The legal fight between three bars on Upper Kirby and the neighboring subdivision got off to a spirited start Tuesday.

More than 50 residents of the David Crockett subdivision and their homeowners association are suing the businesses for violating deed restrictions that prohibit the sale of alcohol and activities that are a nuisance to the neighborhood. Each lies within the subdivision boundaries.

Daryl Bristow, the attorney for the David Crockett residents, told jurors that the defendants have turned their back on the deed restrictions and want to be able to do anything they want.

Collectively, he said, the three operations have made the block something akin to "Padre Island spring break for adults - without the sand and water."

Acknowledging that the homeowners association has not sued other businesses serving alcohol on the sub- division's two commercial blocks, he said other places, such as Café Express and Owl club, sell relatively little alcohol and have never been a neighborhood nuisance.

He noted that OTC has taken in $200,000 in alcohol sales per month; Hendricks Pub, $100,000; and Roak, $250,000.

The three businesses have created a variety of problems for the neighborhood, Bristow said. A well-known surgeon who lives in the subdivision has had to wear headphones to block out the noise when he goes to sleep. A 15-year-old girl saw a woman urinating on her yard, he said, and there have been drunken fights and screaming matches in the streets. Condoms and tampons have been found on lawns.

The situation has improved somewhat, Bristow noted, partly because there are now parking restrictions on the residential streets.

The defendants' countersuit claiming racial discrimination is frivolous, Bristow said, noting that the homeowners association has had a Middle Eastern committee member.

Lawyers for the defendants claimed in response that their clients have been singled out. Joseph Lee Matalon, an attorney for the property owner, Thor Equities, said the homeowners association has had a permissive attitude toward the sale of alcohol on its two commercial blocks for many years.

He said the City Attorney's Office reviewed the case and concluded that the deed restriction could not be enforced.

Kirby has changed drastically over the years, Matalon noted, and alcohol is sold up and down the street.

Paul Pilibosian, representing the business owners, maintained that, "It is not about what my clients do. It's who they are. It's about fear."

He noted that in years past, the former Jamaica Jamaica music club at Kirby and Richmond had upset residents.

Pilibosian said residents assumed his clients' businesses were going to be duplicate Jamaica Jamaica when, in fact, they are quality establishments.

"They sued us before we even opened," he said.

Pilibosian added that crime was a problem in the neighborhood before his clients arrived.

The business owners have strived to be good neighbors, he said. They soundproofed the rear of their buildings, he said, and hired six off-duty Houston police officers to maintain security and patrol the neighborhood.

The David Crockett residents suing his clients may not like their three businesses, Pilibosian told the jury, "but I bet their kids and grandkids would."